The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-10-05
QUEER HEBREW. SIGNS.
SEEN IN A WALK IN THE POLISH
JEW QUARTER OF NEW YORK.


of the Curious Sign Notwithstanding
About Judisch-Deutsch and the An
cient Hebrew Tongue.
New York's miles of sign boards present
an endless variety of peculiar names, oc-
equations and photography, and diver
sity of foreign languages, which embraces
nearly every nation on the globe. The
odd signs are usually to be found in these
localities of the city where the foreigners
of a certain nationality have hived them
selves. and made up a district distinct
lively their own. Within a few years
there has been an immense immigration
of the Polish Jews to this country. Their
homes in this city have been, as rule,
located in Bayard, Division, Chatham,
Essex and Hester streets. The stores
along these thOroughfares advertise their
wares in signs written in Hebrew charac
tiers. The most ordinary observer is apt
to note with some curiosity that the name
of the article is written from right to left,
and the figure stating the price is written
according to our own usage. Thus, in
stead of writing as in English, Meat
10c., - these Hebrew signs express 1T as
''10c.-taeM.''
A reporter happened to be standing in
front of liquor store in Essex street,
these curious sign boards. He was ac-
costed by an elderly gentleman, who wore
a small black velvet skull cap. He asked
the reporter whether he could read the
sign.
The latter answered, F'No sir. Can you?''
''Oh, yes, l can" replied the old man.
''That top line reads: 'Liker store; Die
beSte Trinke."
''Why that isn't Hebrew" exclaimed
the learned reporter. THAT'S a mixture
of English and German
''Quite correct said the stranger;
''that is what is known as Judisch-
Deutsch, but it seems to me since the
English words have been SO frequently
used, the name scarce covers it.
ABOUT JUDIsCH-DEUTsCH
The reporter asked the old man to tell
him something about JudiSch-Deutsch.
He readily consented.
1.-the name of Judisch-Deutsch, he
said, Literally translated, means Hebrew
German. 1t is not language, but dia-
lect, or, as the Polish Jews themselves
term it, jargon. 1t takes its name from
the fact that it is written in Hebrew char
acters, but its prepOnderant element is
German. 1t contains words from almost
every language, but the extensive use of
English is very recent It's history, like
that of all languages, would be the history
of the people who speak it, and would
show the singular wanderings of the Jews
since the earliest ages. At very early
date in the worlds history the Jews
traversed, with the Phoenicians, the Med
iterranean sea and Atlantic ocean, and
were engaged in trading with Britain and
the northern part Of Germany. About
the year 500 B. G. Jewish travellers were
found in Greece, Italy and Spain. From
the latter country they wandered into
France, and about the twelfth century
they were strongly intrenched in Germany
and parts of Austria. Here they learned
the German language. Still retaining a
large portion of the words picked up in
other countries, the result was conglom-
crate of German, Spanish, French, Sla-
vOnian and other tongues, the first named
being the chief element. And from this
remarkable pot pOurri of languages was
produced what is known as Judisch-
DeutSch. There were also some few Eng
lish words, but scarcely sufficient to be
termed factor in it's composition.
GAS education became more widely diff
fused in Germany, and the Jews were of
fered better opportunities for becoming
cultured and enlightened, their use of this
dialect gave place to a more correct and
polished German, but it is still spoken in
many of the doris in that country.
Those of the race, however, who travelled
still further east and settled in Poland
and Russia have never had any chance for
improvement and they still speak the jar
gOn. Their dialect is distinguished from
the better German by frequent use of a
harsh, cultural termination ich.' 1t is
this dialect Of the Poles which is used in
the theatrical representations given at the
Oriental theatre, which is carried on en-
tirely by Polish jews
ANCIENT HEBREW TONGUE.
The old man paused here and the re-
porter took occasion to ask: ''But what
has become of the original Hebrew Ian
guage that they started out with?''
''Well, the ancient Hebrew tongue is
very limited in the number of its words,
and does not admit readily of extended
consequently the nomads
were compelled to prey upon the resources
of the richer languages in order to acquire
expressions for their growing domestic,
but more particularly for their CONNER
cial needs. The idiomS which have been
retained are few and are chiefly of a
homely domestic nature. The distinctive
of this dialect is that it is
only spoken by Jews. Wherever Jewish
have been formed it is found
more or less in use. 1t is said to exist in
almost every inhabitable portion of the
globe. 1t is extensively met with in Asia
Minor, and even in distant Kamtchatka,
for, you know" and he made significant |
gesture with his right hand, ''you find |
them wherever you 60"
The reporter then asked him to trans |
late some of the signs which could be seen
on the stores.
The old man said: 'I must tell you be-
forehand that while the Jewish characters
express almost the actual, correct spelling
of the German words, they are very de-
icient in expressing the English orthog- |
raphy. / viii give you the exact equiva-
lent in the letters of your own language,
and you will find that the word will sound
Just as you oftenest hear it spoken by the |
more ignorant class of Polish Jews, dia-
Iect which has been made familiar by |
Samuel of Posen and other Jewish stage
characters. In writing them remember |
that the words are all written hind end |
foremost.